“With one of the highest employment rates ever, it’s clear that the Government’s long-term economic plan to help businesses create jobs and get people working again is the right one.”

Guy Nicholson, Labour prospective Parliamentary candidate for Sittingbourne and Sheppey, called the announcement, “a welcome fall” but went on to say: “Dig a little deeper though and you see all is not as good as it looks.

“Wages are almost static, average earnings have fallen way behind inflation, pay is only 0.3% higher than it was a year ago.

Labour's prospective parliamentary candidate for Sittingbourne and Sheppey, Guy Nicholson, said the new figures don't tell the whole story.

“The number of people working part-time who want a full-time job has risen by more than 250,000 since 2010, and still we have too many young people with no job and no prospect of finding one.

“The recovery is being made at our expense. We are being turned into a low-wage, part-time economy with a few at the top walking off with the rewards of everyone else’s hard work.

“This race to the bottom is not how you build a growing and competitive economy.”